Machine fortreating leather



m S h. m D R A W 0 H N M (No Model.)

MAGHINE FOR TREATING LEATHER.

Patented Dec. 10

N. PETERS. PhoIo-Lilhcgmphor. Wanhingwn. 02c

(No Model.) 7 5 sheets-sheet, 2. M. N, HOWARD. MACHINE FOR TREATING LEATHER.

N0. 416,918. Patented Dec. 10, 1889.

3151901 fin 'Mtn as e 5 2 fin 1" (No ModeL') 5 Sheets-Sheet 31' M. N. HOWARD.

MACHINE FOR TREATING LEATHER.

No. 416,918. Patented Dec. 10, 1889.

Mm asesl N. PUERS, Pholn-ljlhognvher, Washinglnn, n. c

(No Model.) 1 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

M. N. HOWARD. MACHINE FOR TREATING LEATHER.

No. 416,918. Patented Dec. 10, 1889.

WITNESSES.

N. PETERS, Phmo-Ulhrn hur, Wnhinghm, D4 (1 (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

HOWARD. MAGHINE FOR TREATING LEATHER.

No. 416,918. Pate'nt ed Dec. 10,1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE...

MATTHEV N. HOVARD, OF BROOKLYN, NEV YORK MAC'HIN-E FOR TREATING LEATHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,918, dated December 10, 1889.

' Application filed July 26, 1889. Serial No. 318,806. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;-

Be it known that I, MA THEW N. HOWARD, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and and combination of parts and details, as will vice.

be fully described and setlforth hereinafter, and finally pointed out in the claims, n

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side view of my improved machine for treating leather. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the same on the line 0a 00, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa detail horizontal sectional view of part of the machine, showing the supporting-sheet and a part of the arrangement of the pressing rollers, endless belt, and part of the stretching device. Fig. 4 is aside view of the parts shown in Fig. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the under side of the upperlstretching de- Fig. 6 is avertical transverse sectional view of the same on the line 3 s, Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a front view of the upper and lower stretching devices. Fig.8 is avertical longitudinal sectional View of the same on the line 1; t, Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a detail vertical transverse sectional view on the line y 31 Fig. 10. Fig. is a side view of the construction shown in Fig. 9,-and Fig. 11 is a vertical trans verse sectional view on the line .2 2, Fig. 10.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. V

In the frame 1 of the machine the drivingshaft 2 is mounted in suitable brackets and carries fixed and loose pulleys, and the fixed pinion 3, engaging a cog-wheel 4 on a shaft 5, on which shaft are also rigidly mounted a sprocketwheel 6, said sprocket wheel by means of an endless driving-chain and anumber of other sprocket-wheels transmits motion and power to theother parts of the machine in the manner that will be hereinafter set forth.

To one of the upper arms of the frame 1 a double bracket7 is secured, whichlias sletted. horizontal arms 8 Sand 9 9, audio another upper arm of the frame abracket 10 is secured,

In these brackets ashaft 11 is j ournaledin ,verf tically-adjust-able boxes, andcarries a sprocket-wheel l2 and acog-whel '12 of the same diameter as the said sprocket wheel 12% The cog-wheel 12 engages a pinion 13,011 the same in lugs 15 on the underside of the slotted arms 8 of the brackets7, and adj ustableh orizontally by means of suitablebolts in said slots.

The surface of said roller 14 is provided'with a coating or covering of emery or other friction material, so as to enable it to get a firm hold and grip on the leather and draw it through the stretching device.

The cog-whee112 and its shaft 11 can be adjusted vertically'in the slots of the brackets 7 and 10 by means of screws 16, which are mounted to turn in the brackets and on the lower ends of which screws the journalboxes of said shaft 11 are suspended.

Two levers 17 17 are mounted to swing on a pivot 18 and form a swinging frame, and

on their free ends carry a pressure-roller 19 and 20, with endless belt 21 passing around them, press against roller 14 in such a m-anner that roller 14 rests just between rollers 19 and 20 and has a firm hold on the skin or leather which rests on the endless belt 21.

The raising and lowering of the levers 17 17 and the rollers 19 and 20 thereon are accomplished by the large cams 24. 24, which are mounted on the shaft 25, which also carries a sprocket-wheel 26, driven by the endless driving-chain 43. The edges of the cams 24 act on the anti-friction rollers 27, mounted on ashaft 28, journaled in boxes 31, sliding in brackets 29, projecting from the under side of a cross-plate 30,11nitingthe swinging ends of the levers 17 Rubber springs 32 are interposed between the said cross-plate 30 and the boxes 31 to insure a certain elasticity in the stretching and rolling devices and to allow for the irregularities of the leather to pass through the machine. At the same time the boxes 31, which are at the outer sides of the cams 24E, prevent the levers 17 from vibrating laterally.

The mechanism for stretching the leather consists of two parts, the lower one 33 of which is bolted to the plate 30, while the upper one 3 1 is bolted to the slotted arms 9 9 of the bracket 7 in such a manner that both parts touch each other under the desired pressure when the levers 17 are raised, as shown in Figs. 9 and 1.

The part 34 (shown in detail in Figs. 5, G, 7, and 8) consists of a plate a, braced by a rib b, which plate is provided with a series of curved and pointed grooves c, the inner edges of which are vertical. Against said vertical edges blades or knives d are placed in such a manner that they project slightly beyond the surface of the plate a. The ends of screws g, screwed through the plate a, rest on the inner edges of said blades (1, and by means of said screws the blades can be adjusted so that their projecting edges are in the same plane. Said blades d'are wedged tightly in place by means of wedges h, screws 70, and pasteboard strips 01 interposed between the blades and the adjacent sides of the grooves c.

Thepart 33 (shown in detail in Figs. 7 and 8) consists of the plate 177., secured to bracketplate 30, Figs. 9 and '10, and is provided with a series of grooves 01., equal in number to the number of blades (Z on the plate a. Said grooves 01 are curved like the blades d, and so located that their central lines are nearly below the edges of the blades (Z. A piece of leather 0 is stretched over the grooves 17. and secured at one end of the plate m by means of screws 0, and drawn tight over said plate by means of screws 19 at the opposite end. The edge of the leather 0 projects a certain distance beyondvthe screws 19 p and the plate on for the purpose which will be explained hereinafter. This leather, in connection with grooves n, forms an elastic cushion,which can be made of any other suitable material. The blades d of the plate a and the grooves 02 of the plate m are, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, so arranged that their apeXes point toward the direction from which the leather is drawn. A flexible sheet 38, Figs. 3 and 4, extends across the entire machine between the upper and lower working parts, and is fastened to beams 39, which are secured to brackets 40, projecting from the main frame 1. Said sheet 38 has an opening 41 of sufficient size for the plate m, with leather covering 0, and for that part of the endless belt 21 directly over the rollers 19 and 20 to be left free for work. One end 42 of said opening 41 is cut out to match the above-mentioned projecting end part of the cushion-leather'o, and is stitched to the same. This causes the sheet 38 to ascend and descend with the levers 17 and to form a table for the leather under treatment. (See Figs. 3 and 4.) The endless driving-belt 43 rot-ates the sprocket-wheels 12, 35, 50, 37, 26, and .36. The roller 1e and the belt 21 travel in the same direction, as indicated by the arrows, Figs. 1 and 10, and have the same speed produced by the arrangement of the sizes of sprocket-wheels, gears, and rollers, as indicated, which is necessary to insure a perfect rolling of the leather, and to prevent the inj urious sliding of the leather against either one of them. Such sliding would occur if the speed of the belt 21 would be different from the speed of the surface of roller 14:.

The operation is as follows: hen the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 4- that is, the levers 17 17 loweredthe leather to be treated is placed upon the sheet 38 with the flesh side to the top, so that part of the leather rests on the endless belt 21, just over the rollers 19 and 20. As soon as the cams 24: rotate so far that the levers 17 are raised, the endless belt 21 is pressed against the pressure-roller 14, while at the same time the cushion-leather 0 on the plate m is pressedagainst the edges of the blades 01 projecting from the plate a. The leather to be treated is thus pressed between the roller let and the endless belt 21 and between the stretching device; but the two pressures are so adjusted that the pressure between the pressure-rollers is much greater than the pressure between the stretching devices. let and belt 21 at once begin drawing the leather through between each other and between the stretching device. The flesh side of the leather is drawn over the blades (1, which, being pointed and curved and having apexes, as shown and described, gradually stretch and spread the leather in all directions, an operation which is usually known as staking. The blades d cannot cut the leather under treatment on account of the grooves n underneath the cushion-leather 0, which furnishes an elastic cushion for the blades and allows all irregularities and unevenness of the leather to pass through the stretching device unhindered. At the same time the endless belt 21, between which and the roller 14: the leather is rolled with its grain side toward belt 21, imparts to the same a dull finish. After the cams 24 have made a half-revolution the levers 17 go back to their lower position, the pressure on the leather ceases, and it can be arranged either to be worked over any number of times or can be replaced by another skin or piece of leather. The skin or piece of leather can be passed through moist or dry, as may be desired. The stretching device 33 34 can also be made to stretch or smooth the leather drawn through between the two parts either by using only the ribs between the grooves without the blades (1, in connection with the cushion-plate 33,01 by using said ribs fitted Therefore the roller IIO to the grooves a of part 33 Without the elastic cushion. I

The upper and lower parts of the stretching device and the upper and lowerpressurerollers may be reversed, and the machine may be used not only for stretching and rolling the leather in one operation but for performing either work only. I

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a machine for treating leather, the

combination, with a fixedframe, of a roller mounted on the same, a swinging frame, rollers mounted on the swinging end of the same, an endless belt passed over said rollers, a friction-roller above the endless belt, cams for raising the swinging frame and having an aperture through which the rollers on the swinging frame and that part of the endless belt on said rollers can pass, a sheet extending over the belt, and swinging frame, substantially as set forth.

2. In a machine for treating leather, the combination, witha fixed frame, of a roller mounted in the same, a swinging frame on said fixed frame and carrying at its swinging end two pressure-rollers, an endless belt passed around said pressure-rollers, a cam for raising the swinging frame, an endless drivingchain passed over sprocket-wheels and imparting motion to the endless belt and to the rollers mounted on the fixed frame above the pressure-rollers on the swinging end of the swinging frame, substantially as set forth.

3. In a machine for treating leather, the

combination, with a fixed frame, of a pressure-roller on the same, a swinging frame carrying pressure-rollers over which an endless belt is passed, a cushion-plate on the swinging frame adjacent to the pressure-rollers, a plate held on the fixed frame above the cushion-plate and having diverging stretchingblades, and an endless driving-chain passed over sprocket-wheels and rotating the pressure-rollers on the fixed frame and imparting motion to the endless belt on the swinging frame, substantially as set forth,

4. In a machine for treating leather, the conqbinatiomwith a fixed frame, of a canvassheet held on the same and provided with an opening, a pressure-roller on the fixed frame and above said opening, a swinging frame below said sheet, pressure-rollers on said swinging frame and below the opening in the sheet, an endless belt passed over said rollers on the swinging frame, a cushion-plate 011. said swinging frame adjacent to the rollers, and a plate held on the fixed frame and above the cushion-plate, and diverging knives on the underside of said plate on the fixed frame, substantially as set forth. I

5. I11 a machine for treating leather, the combination, with a plate having diverging tongues and grooves on its upper surface with their apexes pointing in the direction from which the leather enters, of a sheet of flexible material stretched over said grooves, a plate above said sheet of flexible material, and diverging blades on the under side of said latter plate, substantially as set forth.

6. In a machine for treating leather, the combination, with a plate having diverging grooves in its upper surface,of a sheet of flexible material stretched over said grooves, a plate above said flexible material, diverging blades in the under side of said latter plate, and screws for adjusting said blades, substantially as set forth.

7. In a machine for treating leather, a leather-stretching device composed of two flat plates having divergent grooves in the adjacent faces, the tongues or ribs thus formed on one plate fitting: in the grooves in the other plate, substantially as set forth.

8. In a machine for treating leather, the combination, with a cushion -plate, of a fiat stretching-plate having diverging ribs that.

can act on the leather restingon the cushionplate, substantially as set forth.

9. In a machine for treating leather, the combination, with the plate I a, having grooves o, of the blades d, the wedges h, the screws 9 and 7a, the plate M, having grooves 'n,and of the sheet 0, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MATTHEIV N. HOWARD.

Witnesses:

OSCAR F. .GUNZ,

JOHN ALONZO STRALEY. 

